volunteer tampa bay
tommyAccording to a new report released by the Corporation for National and Community Service, 60.8 million Americans volunteered in their communities in 2007. That represents an average of 26.2 percent of Americans age 16 and older.
The study also reported the percentages of individual states as well as metro areas, and those findings are highlighted on the Volunteering in America website.
The number of volunteers from the State of Florida is below the national average, and ranks only third from the bottom of the list:
- Volunteer Rate Ranking: 49th within the 50 states and Washington D.C.
- Average Volunteer Rate: 20.0%
- Volunteer Hours Ranking: 45th within the 50 states and Washington D.C.
- Average Volunteer Hours per Resident: 29.3 hours
Most of those (32.4%) volunteer with religious organizations.
Floridian cities make up the bottom of the metro rankings too:
- #50 - Miami - 14.5% volunteered.
- #46 - Orlando - 19.7% volunteered.
- #45 - Jacksonville - 20.7% volunteered.
- #40 - Tampa - 24.8% volunteered.
Sure, Tampa Bay ranks higher than the rest of the state, and is above average for Florida, but we can certainly do better.
Here are the numbers for the Tampa, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) (Major cities included in this MSA include Tampa, FL; St. Petersburg, FL; and Clearwater, FL):
- Volunteer Rate Ranking: 40th within the 50 large cities
- Average Volunteer Rate: 24.8%
- Volunteer Hours Ranking: 29th within the 50 large cities
- Average Volunteer Hours per Resident: 34.8 hours
So what about you? Do you donate your time to any worthy causes? Fill out the poll, and tell us about some worthy causes in the comments:
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July 28th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Being sorta new to the Tampa area, I don’t know where to start. Could you guys provide maybe a quick list of great places to volunteer? Where do you guys volunteer?
July 28th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I hate polls like this one. Who did they ask and where did they find them?
What about all those parents volunteering at their childrens’ schools, Little League games, etc? I bet they’re not counted.
Lots of folks volunteer at church but don’t view it as volunteering. It’s their service to God.
And many companies, like the one I work for, gives every employee a specific number of days to perform volunteer activities in the community.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Hands on Tampa Bay is where we volunteer. They work with a ton of agencies that need volunteers.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Gotta agree with Patricia on this one. The statement might be better qualified by measuring those who register as volunteers with agencies, etc. I know people who give generously of their own time (not me), driving elderly neighbors to the doctor or picking up stuff at Publix or walking someone’s dog while they are out of town. Are those favors or is that volunteering? Where does one end and the next begin? Hard to say.